The Ins and Outs of Scars Standard

Mike FloresThursday, September 30, 2010

cars of Mirrodin is sure to spawn all new strategies and anti-strategies. Artifacts weren't very important in pre-Scars Standard. You had the odd Everflowing Chalice or Basilisk Collar, but they weren't really something that most players prepared for (that's why Howling Mine decks could perform so well, sometimes). Conversely, last time we had any kind of "Mirrodin" in Standard, one of the best decks was a Mono-White Control deck that splashed green for just one card main deck ... Oxidize!

Sure, Kibler had a transformative sideboard that brushed the white deck up against Tooth and Nail, but that door would never have even been opened if not for the burning desire to blow up a first-turn Seat of the Synod.

So there will probably be an epic battle between artifacts and not artifacts. But that is not what this article is about, and might not be meaningful for some weeks, anyway.

One of the topics that always comes up with a new large set rotation is how we can look at the pre-existing decks in a new light. For example, some of us had been playing Jund all the way back to States, when Shards of Alara was first released. But it wasn't until the rotation of Lorwyn block and the Standard extinction of Faeries that Jund took off to become the scourge of Standard that it was for all last year.

Joshua Utter-Leyton's build of Mythic Conscription is generally considered to be the best deck in Standard. More streamlined than previous versions, there are no silly "this"es or silly "that"s bogging down this deck; it just plays four copies of all the best cards, three Elspeths, and two Explores. The Explores are so cool—they were previously unheard of in this archetype, but have become more or less the constant fixture.

What's out?

The genesis of the Mythic archetype by Zvi Mowshowitz last year was based in the strategy's awesome mana. Not just from the standpoint of having the most mana acceleration creatures in the format, but a land base that worked with the expensive requirements of the deck. That mana is compromised with the rotation of the Shards of Alara block; Mythic loses Knight of the Reliquary and Noble Hierarch. Knight of the Reliquary was not just a three-mana "mana elf," but worked alongside Lotus Cobra to produce Mythic's most absurd threat draws ... like a lightning-quick Sovereigns of Lost Alara.

The Mythic "engine"—lots of mana acceleration creatures, some gigantic high-end threats—can and will survive, but obviously not in its present form (how can it, with no Sovereigns of Lost Alara?).

Sovereigns itself, the "Finest Hour" slot, might be filled with True Conviction. If so, I would be skeptical about Mythic continuing life as a three-color deck. My guess is that we see two-color (green-blue or green-white) variants, with the former more along the lines of the Utter-Leyton deck. And the green-white version all creatures and lots of lands with, perhaps, Summoning Trap—more along the lines of the Team Mythic-2 Amsterdam deck. In that case, Primeval Titan would be a nearly automatic "in." Fatty support from Scars of Mirrodin might come from Wurmcoil Engine, the so-called "sixth Titan." Wurmcoil Engine is a fine foil to another Titan, after all.

Mythic variants have long been characterized as mono-permanents, and therefore typically lacked in creature removal. What about using Trinket Mage—along with the ample mana of the Mythic strategy—to find and power up Brittle Effigy?

With Joshua Utter-Leyton opening the door for Explore, what about the similar, but potentially more powerful, accelerator Everflowing Chalice? That is a potential target for Trinket Mage, too.

All of them will be affected by the Scars of Mirrodin transition. For example, Elspeth, Knight-Errant, one of the strongest threats in pre-Scars Standard, will be disappearing. Even more important, the spot removal all-stars—Path to Exile and Oblivion Ring—will be going the same way.

We might want to consider starting with control master Guillaume Wafo-Tapa's take on White-Blue from the Top 8 of France Nationals:

Two thirds of the Planeswalkers in Scars of Mirrodin go right in. Elspeth Tirel, in particular, is an awesome, relentless threat.

Venser gives the white-blue mage a lot of potential play. You can reset a Sejiri Refuge, which not only grows Venser's loyalty, but also gives you a point of life. Wall of Omens is an annoying companion ... as might be the Trinket Mage we described, above.

Finally, white-blue mages looking to tap out might want to consider Wurmcoil Engine. It is very similar to a Baneslayer Angel, but unlike Angel, if someone points a removal spell (or two), you still walk away with something, instead of just putting your expensive finisher into the bin.

Dredge-uh-Vine is in an interesting position. It improved significantly with the move towards green (for Fauna Shaman), which will help it to recover from the loss of the premiere non-Vengevine graveyard mechanic in Standard: unearth.

Principal loss here is Extractor Demon, which was one of the most important ways to break Renegade Doppelganger ... It is probable that there is nothing that will truly make up for so catastrophic a loss, but Bloodghast probably goes a long way. Bloodghast was a stalwart of the pre-green version, and hit the sidelines with the coming of Magic 2011.

A totally new functionality that Scars of Mirrodin might offer this deck is Trinket Mage (see how arguably the best blue card in the set can go into many different decks?). Trinket Mage can fetch Memnite to trigger Vengevine, but interestingly, can add layers to the Dredge-uh-Vine game play, instead of moving in only one direction. Dredge-uh-Vine can add singletons like Brittle Effigy for spot removal, or Nihil Spellbomb for the mirror match.

There are lots of different Mana Ramp decks. There are Red-Green Valakut decks, various Destructive Force decks, and there are straight green decks like the one Conrad Kolos used to make the U.S. National Team.

The backup plan is to use Stoneforge Mystic to find equipment (not necessarily the super expensive set), and Kor Outfitter to save some mana on the way to taking down the battlefield.

So What About Bloodbraid Elf?

The best creature in Standard is leaving with the rest of Alara Reborn. We've hinted a couple of times that the hated Jund deck will be going along with it. But Jund was not the only Bloodbraid Elf deck.

Unfortunately ... probably not what Naya is losing. However there are some slightly different angles that Naya can use.

Kuldotha Phoenix: The mana isn't even prohibitive! You can re-buy this big 4/4 haster for colorless mana. Caveat: the Naya deck will have to up the artifacts from the "one Basilisk Collar" level it previously played at.

Manic Vandal: The ability to search up an "enters the battlefield" card-advantage creature every turn seems like it could be super attractive if the format goes heavily artifact.